The guard is offended by the tone this civilian uses. "That is not how this works here. You state your business and I see if I can help you. Or if I let you rot waiting here."
"I do jobs for Kasadei. And only the big ones where the major pays the bounties. Either you get her here in an instant or I make sure she makes you sorry later." she states with an frosty demeanor.
The guard gulps visibly and decides to not try if the elf can make good on her promise. After quite some while Officer Kasadei appears with a smirk on her face. "I need to select the front office guards more carefully. I need to find some who are less prone to manipulation. How about you're nice to my guards next time."
"Once nice starts working I'll use that."
"Until then I'm fine pushing around that meek guys you have here. But about my business. I have here Mrs. Mordove, some other guy and a woman we freed from a prison in the sewers. They were abducted by some derros who probably wanted to do some experiments on them. Or torture them for fun, I don't know for sure. This guy here is only a vegetable now. He had his share of experiments as it looks."
"We are not completely done with that pests as Mrs Mordove here told us of one more derro than we could get rid of up to now. So I wanted to remind you about that offer of yours." Tauriell explains.
"Well. I'm impressed. You stand here - three days is it know, isn't it - after I talked to you with the solution to these abductions we couldn't solve in months." She looks at the people the elf brought here. Especially Mrs. Mordove.
"How long have you been away Mrs. Mordove?" Kasadei asks.
"I don't know for sure. It was Tuesday when I was kidnapped. What day is it now?" Mrs. Mordove asks.
"It's Wednesday now. So luckily you got saved quick and it didn't get known in town so far. Please make sure to tell that the threat is now removed if you tell that story at all. The last thing we need is new rumors that now also well known people disappear."
To Tauriell she says "I'll see to it that you get your reward. You come again when you're done with it?"
"You can send it to Mrs. Heidmarch. She said something that we should make sure you know it's through the Pathfinders that your problems get solved. But if you need some more proof about the work being done I can bring some derro heads next time." Tauriell suggests.
"No thank you. That's fine with me. What name do I give to Mrs. Heidmarch?" Kasadei asks.
"Tell her Gwenhwyfar Yongisdottir." Tauriell replies looking at Gwenhwyfar. "She is the boss. I'm only the dirty squad."
Gwenhwyfar blushes. "I'm the boss?"
"You're the one Mrs. Heidmarch talks to. And Jimmy. But you're the closest to a boss we have so get used to it." Tauriell replies.
Kasadei shakes her head with a smirk onher face. She takes out a piece of paper and notes the name down. "That's fine. I'll send it to Mrs. Heidmarch telling her it's for Mrs. Yongisdottir."
"And if I have something else that needs solving I'll send it that way too. That's all?" she asks.
"One more thing. Our vegetable here. Where can we put him?" Tauriell asks. "Gwenhwyfar would fix him up if she knew what he has but as it is now..." she points at Gwenhwyfar.
"I could diagnose him tomorrow when I prepare the spell. But I didn't find anything when I checked him earlier." Gwenhwyfar explains.
"I could put him into a cell like we do with drunks until he remembers where he belongs to. But if you can fix him up tomorrow that would be the better option for him." Kasadei replies.
"Then we take him with us." Gwenhwyfar says hastily before Tauriell can say anything else. And to Tauriell she adds "I'm the boss. I get to decide that."
"Yes boss." Tauriell jokes. "Off to the Gilded Cage I guess?" Tauriell asks Mrs. Mordove.
"I would really appreciate that." Mrs. Mordove replies. She then leads the group out of the Arvensoar and 250 ft down the road. There, built into the face of the Seacleft stands the Gilded Cage.
The concierge opens the door for Mrs. Morcove but he is suspicious of the group and especially of the man in the blanket.
"Good afternoon James. These are my personal guests. Please see to it that this gentleman gets some appropriate clothes." she says pointing at the man.
Being in her used to environment she relaxes visibly. "I need to put on some other clothes. Nothing against you or your dress. But I need to feel like myself again." she explains while leading the group to her private room. It is some rather spacious room with parquet floor, a large mirror covering almost all of one wall and a comfortable bed a desk and a chair standing on a beautifully wove carpet.
She disappears into the next room - a wardrobe. After a few minutes she comes back out almost as good as new. Face washed hair combed and made into a pinned updo. She put on make-up some fine pearl stud earrings and a fine silken dancing garment. She walks upright with a straight back. All muscles tensed as if she would start a dancing performance any moment.
"I'll see to it that you get your dress back washed and ironed tomorrow." she says to Gwenhwyfar and puts the carefully folded dress on the desk. "Please let me thank you all for saving me from this horrible place and the horrible torture and death that would have been my doom. Please accept my heartfelt thank and the small gifts I can offer you."
"Mrs. Yongisdottir please accept a dress as a gift from me. Just choose which one you like." she says pointing to her wardrobe.
"For you I have this pouch with coins." she says and hands Tauriell a pouch with 15 platinum.
"For the rest of you I'm not sure what to offer. What do you like?"
"I would take something to eat. I'm a vegetarian, thank you." Niamh replies. "Where do you want to go?" Niamh asks the other woman they'd taken with them.
"Do you have something with fire?" Abomentolor asks.
"You're all my guests this evening for dinner and some entertainment. But besides that. What would you like?" Mrs. Mordove replies.
The other woman replies almost whispered "I would be glad if I could stay with you a little longer."
Mrs. Mordove the walks to her desk, opens a drawer and takes out a scroll. "A wizard once left this scroll as collateral. I think it was something about fire. He never came to get it so if you want it?" she hands the scroll to Abomentolor with a smile.
Abomentolor takes the scroll and reads it casting read magic. He then starts running in circles and jumping calling out "It's a scroll of fireball. Fireball! FIREBALL! Oh woe to my enemies! I got a fireball!"
"For me it's okay." Niamh replies with a smirk to the other woman.
"Do you know someone who can play this instrument?" Niamh asks Mrs. Mordove and helds her the zither under her nose.
"Sorry, but I have never seen such a thing. But if you like music I could offer you some musical scores. Some I have multiple times and others I could order a copy for you. Would that be something you like?" Mrs Mordove asks Niamh.
"Oh yes! That would be wonderful!" Niamh says her face is shining. "Then the rest of the group will hear me playing the instruments much longer every time until I can play all of them."
"Wonderful. Please take a look here at my desk there is a pile of sheets. But please be careful while looking trough it that they don't get mixed up. I'll look over your selection then and tell you which ones you can have now. and which one I need to get copies first." Mrs. Mordove says.
Gwenhwyfar walks into the wardrobe and is smitten by the amount of fine dresses lined up there. She selects a dark, almost black with a touch of claret velvet dress laced in front and worn over a claret blouse and tries it on. She comes back out and asks "I like this one. May I keep it?" Gwenhwyfar asks.
Niamh walks to the desk and looks through the sheets. Some of them she already knows. But most are unknown. Niamh lays the ones she want to have vertical and the ones she doesn't want to have horizontal.
"Of course. This matches perfectly with your beautiful hair. But let me get something." Mrs. Mordive walks into the wardrobe and comes back with a black pearl necklace and matching earrings and puts them on Gwenhwyfar. And she hands her a matching velvet bag and a claret silken scarf and gloves. "Now it's complete." she says admiring the result.
"And you Mr. what could I give you to you to give you pleasure?" Mrs. Mordove asks Jimmy.
"Personally, by putting a smile on Gwen's face you put a smile on mine. If I think of anything can I let you know?"
"Sure, tell me later if you don't have an idea now. Let us go celebrate that we are alive and forget this horrible day."
She leads the group to a large table in front of a stage where different performances are shown. She talks to one of the servants who comes back with a tablet full of cocktails and puts them on the table.
The performers are all professional artists and the show they put on is really good. No matter if it's some music or dancing or trickery. But it is nontheless a club and some of the performances are more to Tauriell's taste than to Gwenhwyfar's.
The servant starts bringing nibbles after the drinks and makes sure no one runs out of food or drink.
"Isn't this wonderful? Just sitting here without doing anything except listening." Niamh asks Tauriell. "The only thing that could make it better would be Brutus. Or to play myself." She thinks a moment and then adds "You should learn how to dance and then we could do that too. Wouldn't that be even more wonderful?" Niamh asks exitedly.
"I can dance. Not as good as these gals here but if you want you can ask Mrs. Mordove if we get the stage." Tauriell replies.
"Which song would you like?"
"Oh, call me Jayleen please. And if you like I could join you and we give the audience some show." Mrs. Mordove says.
"Some happy dancing song with a good rhythm." Tauriell replies.
And to Jayleen she answers "I'm Tauriell. But I'm not sure if I want to share a stage with you. You make me look bad in comparison."
"My name is Gwenhwyfar and this is Jimmy." Gwenhwyfar adds her part to the introduction.
Niamh packs out her violin and walks onto the stage. She starts playing a rather fast melody.
She shakes her head angrily about the result and tries again. This time she plays rather well.
Niamh looks at Tauriell. "Is that okay for you?"
"A wonderful name" Jayleen replies to Gwenhwyfar. "Ah Jimmy. You still sit here in this heavy armor. How thoughtless of me. If you like I can lead you to one of our massage parlors where some nice girls would help you out of this thing and give your strained muscles a relaxing massage." she offers.
Tauriell throws an amused look at Jimmy. "If you don't like that you can always pass it on to me." She then climbs on the stage and starts dancing to Niamh's dancing music.
Jimmy leans in to whisper to her, "Gwen gives all the massages I'll ever need. However someone to help me out of the armor would be fantastic."
"You can have the massage room without the girls too. Then you could have some private time with Gwenhwyfar." she replies looking to Gwenhwyfar. "Just tell the servant your decision."
Jayleen then joins Niamh and Tauriell on the stage and imitates what Tauriell dances to make it a duett.
"I'm sorry. I'm a lousy squire. Shall I help you out of your armor now?" Gwenhwyfar asks.
"I would like that. But you aren't a lousy squire, we have had other things on my mind. To be honest I half forgot I was wearing it too." Jimmy says with a smile standing and offering Gwen a hand up
Gwenhwyfar gets up and takes Jimmy's hand. "Where to?"
"We can ask one of the waiters where the massage room is, perhaps?" Jimmy says looking round for a waiter to ask
"Hihi. That would be nice." Gwenhwyfar replies.